


Honeybee, Be My Valentine

by Johanna_002



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29387604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Johanna_002/pseuds/Johanna_002
Summary: Valentine's Day fluff in Gloria's world. Set post-prison.





	Honeybee, Be My Valentine

Gloria had just clocked in at work when her cell phone started to ring. "Hold on, hold on," she told her phone, as she shifted the items in her hand, cupcake tins and treat bags with pink and red valentine-day theme pencils, onto the table in the break room. Her phone continued to ring and vibrate in her pocket. "Hello, yes," she answered distractedly, breathlessly, catching the call before it dropped into a voicemail.

"Mami," it was her daughter, Elena. "Mami, can you do me a favor, por favor?" her daughter asked her in a panic. "I didn't have time yesterday to buy cupcakes for Isla's class. Can you grab them on your lunch break and run them by the school? I won't have time. She's going to be so upset-"

"Mija," Gloria cut her daughter off. "Honey, we spoke yesterday morning. I told you that I would, and I did." She smiled proudly at the tins of cupcakes in front of her. "I made them last night, and I brought them to work with me." She pulled the phone from her ear and switched it to face-time mode. Elena's face appeared, and it made Gloria feel accomplished as her daughter's look changed from one of panic to pure relief.

Gloria switched the camera so that her daughter could see the table filled with valentine's day treats. "I found these super cute treat bags too," Gloria pointed out the clear bags with hearts all of them. "I got stickers, pencils, some candy," she listed off all of the things she'd gotten from the dollar section.

"Aww," her daughter cooed. "Those are nice. The kids will love them. Thank you, Mami!"

"I put 10 of the bags together last night, so I just need to finish the other half," Gloria told her. "What time does her class party start?"

"At noon," Elena told her. "I'm probably going to be a few minutes late."

"That's okay," Gloria reassured her.

"Wait till you see Isla in her valentine's day outfit!" Elena told her mother gleefully. "She looks so cute! I just wanted to eat her face this morning, she's so precious."

Gloria laughed, the feeling of love bursting within her chest all the way down to her toes. This wasn't the tune Elena had been singing the other day when she called to complain that Isla was stressing her out, and throwing a tantrum. However, Gloria remembered the feeling well. There had been so many times when her kids were small that she prayed for naptime and bedtime to hurry up, but as soon as they'd be down for the count, she couldn't help but miss them. Sometimes, she'd even wake them up early from their naps just so she could hold and cuddle them.

"Are you coming over for dinner on Sunday?" Gloria asked as she put her purse in her locker. She pulled out a chair at the table and propped her phone up against the packaged cupcakes so that she could talk and finish the valentine's day bags at the same time.

"Yes," Elena told her happily.

"Good," Gloria nodded her head. "Your sister is coming, too. I got her some candy and some wine for valentine's day, and we're going to have steak and mashed potatoes."

"She's been off work a lot recently," Elena said, her brows furrowing. "She said she was gonna try and make it to Isla's classroom party."

"They're making her take time off," Gloria explained. Her eldest daughter, Cecilia, was now a nurse in Manhattan. "Her boss told her that if she doesn't take it now, then she is going to lose it."

"Could never be me," Elena said with a laugh, "I enjoy my weekends off too much." She was a teller at a bank and enjoyed her normal work hours. It allowed her to keep her daughter on a predictable schedule, and to be able to make plans in a timely manner that she could actually commit to.

"Well," Gloria said easily, "Someone's got to do it, right?" She was proud of all her children, but especially her girls. They'd grown up to be responsible, hardworking young women, and she didn't think she could ask for more. As a mother, she would have liked to see Ceci more consistently, but with the distance between them, and Ceci's hectic schedule, she was just grateful that cell phones and face time existed.

"That's true," Elena agreed.

"What kind of vegetable do you want with dinner?" Gloria asked. "Your sister said corn, the boys said green beans."

"Can't we have both?"

"Yes," Gloria told her with a smile. "I just didn't know if you'd want something else. I need to go to the store tonight and shop. I don't want you to text me after I'm home that you want carrots, too."

"Ohh," Elena said deeply. "Carrots do sound good, too. Now I don't know what I want." She smiled at her mom through the camera and tapped her fingers against her chin thoughtfully.

"Okay," Gloria said, shaking her head in amusement. "You think about it, let me know and I'll go shopping tonight. I need to get on the floor, though. I've been sitting back here talking to you, and I'm already clocked in."

"Aren't you the boss?" Elena asked her. "Can't you do whatever you want? That's what you used to tell me when I was young. Because I said so," she mocked her mother.

Gloria laughed. "Yea, that backfired on me, didn't it?"

Elena laughed too. "Okay, troublemaker. I'll see you at Isla's school at noon. Don't forget."

"I won't, Mija. Have a good day, I love you."

"I love you, too."

…

It was a little before noon when Gloria arrived at her granddaughter's school. Signing in at the front desk, she smiled and conversed casually with the older, blonde woman behind the desk. They'd become familiar with one another in the last year, Gloria often times being the one to pick Isla up from school on the days when Elena couldn't, or dropping her off early in the morning when Elena had an appointment or some other business to attend to.

"You brought in a lot of things!" the older woman exclaimed with excitement as she took in the bags at Gloria's feet.

"I probably went a little overboard," Gloria admitted with a blushing smile.

"Do you need help carrying anything to Isla's classroom?"

The door of the main office opened, and Gloria looked over her shoulder to see Cecilia, bundled up in a leopard print coat. "No," she shook her head, "this is my oldest daughter, Ceci. She can help me."

Ceci pulled the gloves off her hands and shoved them into her coat pocket. "Help you with what?" She asked, pulling off her hat and shaking out her long curly hair.

"Carry these bags," Gloria explained. She passed Ceci the pen so that she could sign her name into the school's visitor log.

"I'll need your ID, also," the secretary told her.

"You'd think I was going through an airport or something," Ceci grumbled under her breath as she pulled out her wallet.

Not as bubbly as Elena, Ceci, was more straight forward and quick lipped. She was the spitting image of her mother, down to her hot temper and lively facial expressions. It amused Gloria, to see parts of herself in children; to see how different yet similar they all were to one another.

"How was your drive?" Gloria asked conversationally as they walked down the hallway shoulder to shoulder.

"Long," Ceci told her honestly, tiredly. "I hate traffic. Next time, everyone needs to travel to Manhattan to see me instead."

"I'd love to visit you," Gloria told her truthfully, snagging greedily at the invitation. "I want to see how you decided to decorate your apartment after all."

"Anytime," Ceci shrugged. "I still have so much time left to take, we could shop," she bumped into her mother's side affectionately. "We could get a pedicure, maybe a massage."

"Sounds like a plan," Gloria smiled. She brought her hand up to knock on the classroom door and she and Ceci entered quietly, nodding their heads in acknowledgment of the mom who opened the door for them. They didn't want to interrupt the teacher who was standing at the front of her classroom, reminding all of the students in a no-nonsense tone about her expectations for their behavior.

Isla spotted them instantly, and squirmed excitedly in her chair, her brown eyes dilating to the size of saucers. She clamped a hand over her mouth, but her body shook in excitement. It took everything for the pint-sized child to contain herself and stay in her seat.

As much as Gloria wanted to hug her granddaughter, and as delighted as she was to see the love literally burst from within Isla, she pulled a mask of seriousness over her face and gestured with a hard swipe of her hand for Isla to look at her teacher and give the woman her full attention.

"Ugh," Ceci groaned under her breath as she helped Gloria set up the table. "I want to eat her sweet little face."

"I know," Gloria mouthed. She smiled at the mom who had open the door for her, and wordlessly they worked to set out the cupcakes and valentine's-day treats that she had brought.

Other parents had brought other stuff, like drinks and chips, one mom who worked at a pizza place, had supplied pizza. She took a step back and admired their handy work. There was a whole lot of sugar and love to be had in the tiny classroom, and Gloria reminded herself to give thanks that she was able to bear witness to these moments.

Released from their seats, Isla's first stop was into her grandmother's arms. "Hi, Nona!" Isla greeted her excitedly, as her chest slammed into Gloria's. She wrapped her arms tightly around her neck. "You came!"

"Of course, I came," Gloria ran her hand down the small length of Isla's back. She turned her head and showered her face in kisses.

"What about me?" Ceci asked her niece. "I drove through Manhattan traffic for you."

Isla laid her head against her grandmother's and smiled teasingly at her aunt. She gave Gloria one last tight squeeze and then stepped forward toward Ceci, who scooped her up into a tight hug, her little feet dangling in the air.

It wasn't much longer before Elena walked into the classroom herself, and after embracing her daughter in a hug, she joined her mother and sister who were helping Isla's classmates get settled back at their desk with their pizza and treats. After everyone was situated, they'd moved to sit around Isla's desk, making small talk with the little humans who greeted them enthusiastically.

"I like these cupcakes," Isla's friend said as she licked the thick, pink icing.

"My Nona made them!" Isla told her friend proudly. "She made these bags too," she pointed at the little goodie bag on the corner of her friend's desk.

Gloria beamed with pride and couldn't help the rosy blush that colored her cheeks. She was so full of love, and so full of happiness, that she mentally had to keep herself from crying. No one knew just how much she'd dreamed for this day to come, how fearful she was to think that it might never come.

It had taken quite a bit of work to get to this point of having a relationship with her girls, and she knew there was still a lot of damaged and broken pieces to put back together, not only with them but with her sons as well. She knew it would be hard, and she knew there would probably be some setbacks, but she was up for the challenge. Her kids were worth it. She loved them with her entire being, and if she had to spend the rest of her life proving that to them, she would.


End file.
